David Warner may be a cricketing great but to me, he is a bit like one of those oxpecker birds you see pecking away at rhinos – irritating but ultimately insignificant.
We saw a new Warner at a press conference previewing the T20 series against Australia –the sensitive, sensible cricketer recalling his visit here in 2016 when he was abused by Kiwi crowds, which he said at the time were “derogatory” and “vulgar”.
“If you want to pay your money to come and abuse people, you have to go back and lay in your own bed,” Warner said this week. “We’re here to play the game of cricket that we love, enjoy, and put bums on seats to keep the game going.”
This, I am moved to say, is a fine example of hypocrisy, the best since Lance Armstrong announced on social media last year that he was fronting a TV series to investigate issues around the fairness of transgender athletes in sport.
Quite how the man stripped of seven Tour de France titles for doping could think he was “uniquely positioned” to investigate fairness in sport is beyond me but, apparently, not him. Not sure what happened to the series – I assume it hasn’t been made – but good old Davey Warner is here for us all to goggle at instead, doing his best to be a statesman these days.
Tim Southee celebrates after taking the wicket of David Warner. Photo / Photosport
Back in 2016, Warner copped an earful from the crowds for a history of unsavoury incidents on the field. In 2015, New Zealand test great Martin Crowe branded Warner “thuggish” and said he could spark a full-scale, on-field brawl in that year’s World Cup (the one which ended with Australia beating New Zealand in the final at Melbourne).
Crowe’s comments came in the wake of Warner’s ugly confrontation with India’s Rohit Sharma during Australia’s Tri-Series win in Melbourne, when the Australia opener appeared to tell his opponent to “speak English”. The pair had clashed when Rohit ran on an overthrow from Warner in the field.
But Crowe felt punishment should have gone further than Warner being fined half his match fee – calling for red and yellow cards to be introduced to cricket: “Watching from the luxury of my couch and after hearing numerous accounts from respected cricket people, there is a growing concern that David Warner’s thuggish behaviour has gone too far,” Crowe wrote in a column for Cricinfo. “One day it will lead to an incident that will sully the game for good.”
Another Australian great, Ian Chappell, warned after the ill-tempered 2014 Ashes series that sledging could lead to a serious on-field assault, and Crowe added: “As Ian Chappell has said often recently, that soon enough someone will get king-hit on a cricket field. Warner may just be the one who gets pinned by someone in retaliation. And if it is him who gets hammered, it will be overdue, if wrong.
David Warner speaks to media during an Australia training and media session at the Wellington Basin Reserve. Photo / Photosport
“Before things escalate, the ICC needs to arm the officials with everything possible to stop the idiots who are ruining our enjoyment of the game. My concern in the immediate future will be that Warner will be in the centre of an ugly on-field fight during the upcoming World Cup.”
To be fair, Warner and Australian cricket in general have dialled back the sledging and on-field incidents, although they will likely always be a part of what Warner calls “a passionate brand”.
However, Warner has a long history of being a little more than passionate:
2013 – Warner was dropped for Australia’s second match in the ICC Champions Trophy match against New Zealand following an attack on England batter Joe Root. According to reports at the time, the incident took place at 2am in a Birmingham bar.
2013 – While playing in Pretoria, he was involved in an on-field altercation with South African wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile, causing the umpires to step in twice. No formal complaints were made; Warner’s later tweet called it “friendly banter”.
2018 – During tea in the first test in Durban, Warner was involved in an altercation with South African wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock after a comment was allegedly made about Warner’s wife. Warner was fined 75 per cent of his match fee. After being dismissed in the third test of that series, Warner had a heated exchange with a spectator as he headed for the dressing room. The spectator was ejected from the ground.
2018 – In the same series, Warner was later given a 12-month ban for being involved in changing the condition of the match ball in the infamous “sandpaper-gate” episode.
But let’s not go through all that again. Let’s be content ourselves with echoing Warner’s own comments: you do indeed have to lie in your own bed when you’ve made it.
